Page 27 - MWC 3-30-2023s

IS IT TIME TO RE-PROGRAM YOUR COWHERD? The Midwest Cattleman · March 30, 2023 · P27

By Mark Z. Johnson
What’s the old saying in the
cattle business? “Droughts
and hard times will make us
better managers.”
I believe this is true if we
learn from the hard times.
Many of us have reduced
cowherd inventories and are
anticipating normal rainfall
and herd expansion to cap-
italize on the bullish cattle
market outlook. With this in
mind, now is the time to take
a close look at our business
model and specifically the
“production factory” in the
cow-calf business.
The “production factory” I
am referring to is our cow-
herd. We maintain them on
our grass, breed them, feed Now is the time to take a close look at our business model and specifically the “production factory” in the cow-calf business, says
them, anticipate their next Mark Johnson of OSU.
Photo -Troy Walz
calf crop, and plan the mar-
keting of that calf-crop as a our production environment heifers or cow-calf pairs is the type of “production facto-
return on our investment. In with respect to her mature the more immediate solution. ry” that offers the best return
the normal production cycle, size, level of milk and repro- In either case, consider to your operation’s bottom
when our “production facto- ductive efficiency. the type of beef female that line.
ry” is performing in optimum If you had to cull cows works best for you and when
fashion, our input expenses during the past year, most making bull purchases, eval- Drovers
are offset by the calf she will likely it was the biological ex- uate the genetic potential of
produce for us each year. If tremes (too big or too much herd sires that will result in
all goes well, we expect a cow milk) that didn’t fit your op-
to stay in production until eration’s production environ-
the age of 10 years. Whether ment that were open and the
we buy bred heifers, cow calf first to go.
pairs or develop our own re- As we look to the future,
placements from within, the seize the opportunity to
longer a cow stays in produc- re-populate with cows that
tion, the greater she returns are the best fit for your pro-
against our cost of getting duction system and intended
her into production. marketing plan for calves.
What type of cow is most This can be done through sire
likely to wean off a calf each selection if we intend to gen-
12 months and continue to erate our own replacements.
accomplish this in subse- While this is the long-term
quent years? A cow that fits solution, purchasing bred